FIGS. 24A to 24C illustrate a wire harness securing structure for securing a wire harness to a secured member using a conventional wire harness clip.
The wire harness securing structure shown in FIGS. 24A to 24C is arranged to secure a wire harness 202 to a secured member 201 such as a body, various devices and a panel of a vehicle and is provided with a wire harness clip 203 arranged to be latched to a latch hole 201a of the secured member 201 and a securing film 204 retaining the wire harness clip 203.
The wire harness clip 203 is made of synthetic resin or the like and is provided with an anchor portion 203a to be latched to the latch hole 201a of the secured member 201 and a plate portion 203b formed into a rectangular-plate shape.
A first latch piece 203c and a second latch piece 203d are provided at a distal end of the anchor portion 203a. When the anchor portion 203a is inserted into the latch hole 201a of the secured member 201, the first latch piece 203c and the second latch piece 203d are elastically deformed and compressed, and when the anchor portion 203a has passed through the latch hole 201a, the first latch piece 203c and the second latch piece 203d are restored and latched to the latch hole 201a. 
The securing film 204 is a heat-shrinkable film made of polyolefin resin or vinyl chloride resin or the like and is provided with a through hole 204a through which the anchor portion 203a is passed.
When securing the wire harness 202 to the secured member 201 using the above-described wire harness clip 203 and the securing film 204, firstly, the anchor portion 203a of the wire harness clip 203 is inserted into the through hole 204a of the securing film 204, as shown in FIG. 24A, so that the wire harness clip 203 is retained to the securing film 204 with the plate portion 203b being abutted on the securing film 204.
Next, as shown in FIG. 24B, the wire harness 202 is placed on a middle portion of the securing film 204, and the securing film 204 is folded forward to wrap the wire harness 202. Then, the overlapped portion of the securing film 204 is bonded, welded or subjected to thermal compression bonding, followed by heating and shrinking the securing film 204, thereby securing the wire harness clip 203 and the wire harness 202 to each other.
Then, as shown in FIG. 24C, the anchor portion 203a of the wire harness clip 203 is latched to the latch hole 201a of the secured member 201, thereby securing the wire harness 202 to the secured member 201 (refer to Patent Literature 1).
FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing another conventional wire harness clip. FIG. 26 is a cross sectional view taken along a line D-D in FIG. 25. FIG. 27 is a cross sectional view showing a latch portion of the wire harness clip shown in FIGS. 25, 26 which is press-fitted and latched to a hole of a panel.
A wire harness clip 300 shown in FIGS. 25 to 27 is arranged to secure a wire harness formed by bundling a plurality of electric wires to a panel 3 (refer to FIG. 27). The wire harness clip 300 includes a clip main body 301 made of synthetic resin and a packing 302 attached to the clip main body 301.
The clip main body 301 is formed into an elongated plate shape and is provided with a plate portion 310 to be placed along the wire harness, a latch portion 311 to be press-fitted and latched to a hole 3a of the panel 3 and a vane portion 315 to which the packing 302 is attached.
The latch portion 311 includes a support post 312 extending from a central portion of the plate portion 310 and a pair of latch pieces 313 extending from a distal end of the support post 312 toward the plate portion 310. A step-like latch shoulder portion 314 is formed at a distal end of each latch piece 313. The latch portion 311 is press-fitted to the hole 3a of the panel 3 from the side of the distal end of the support post 312, and the respective latch shoulder portions 314 of the pair of latch pieces 313 are engaged with an edge of the hole 3a, by which the latch portion 311 is latched to the hole 3a. 
The vane portion 315 is arranged around a proximal end portion of the support post 312 in a dish-like shape and has elasticity. Also, as shown in FIG. 26, the vane portion 315 is shaped so as to extend toward the panel 3 as it extends from a central portion to an outer edge portion.
The packing 302 is attached on a surface of the vane portion 315 facing the panel 3 and is provided with a hole 320 which is formed at a central portion arranged to pass the latch portion 311 therethrough. When the latch portion 311 is press-fitted and latched to the hole 3a of the panel 3, this packing 302 is in close contact with an outer periphery portion of the hole 3a, thereby preventing water or dust from entering from the hole 3a into an inner side of the panel 3 (i.e. the side of the plate portion 310 in FIG. 27).
When securing the wire harness to the panel 3 using the above-described wire harness clip 300, firstly the plate portion 310 is placed along the wire harness, and then the plate portion 310 and the wire harness are wrapped and secured by a tape. Then, the latch portion 311 is press-fitted and latched to the hole 3a of the panel 3, thereby securing the wire harness to the panel 3.
However, the wire harness securing structure which uses the above-described wire harness clip 203 has a problem as described below. That is, the securing film 204, i.e. the heat-shrinkage film, typically has small elasticity, thus it is difficult to make the securing film 204 in close contact with the outer periphery portion of the latch hole 201a. Thus, this wire harness securing structure cannot be used when sealing performance for the latch hole 201a is required.
Furthermore, the wire harness securing structure which uses the above-described wire harness clip 300 has a problem as described below. That is, in the wire harness clip 300, when the latch portion 311 is press-fitted and latched to the hole 3a of the panel 3, the amount of compression of the packing 302 which is in close contact with the panel 3 decreases toward the central portion of the vane portion 315 from the outer edge portion of the vane portion 315. Thus, the amount of compression of the packing 302 is not uniform, possibly causing water or dust to enter from the hole 3a into the inner side of the panel 3. Moreover, if the packing 302 is attached to the vane portion 315 in a manner such that a center of the packing 302 is displaced with respect to a center of the latch portion 311, then there will be less surface area of the packing 302 which is in close contact with the outer periphery portion of the hole 3a, possibly causing water or dust to enter from the hole 3a into the inner side of the panel 3.
FIG. 28 is a cross sectional view of another wire harness securing structure which uses a conventional wire harness clip. In FIG. 28, a reference sign W indicates a wire harness which is formed by bundling a plurality of electric wires, and a reference sign 400 indicates a wire harness clip, and a reference sign 406 indicates a vehicle body panel.
The wire harness clip 400 includes a first dish-shaped portion 401 formed into a circular dish-shape, a wire harness securing piece 402 extending from the first dish-shaped portion 401 and arranged to be placed along the wire harness W, a latch portion 403 arranged at a central portion of a back face of the first dish-shaped portion 401 and arranged to be press-fitted and latched to a hole 407 of the vehicle panel 406, and a second dish-shaped portion 404 formed into a circular dish-shape around the latch portion 403 at the back face of the first dish-shaped portion 401. The second dish-shaped portion 404 is made of resin which is softer than the first dish-shaped portion 401 and is integrally formed with the first dish-shaped portion 401, the wire harness securing piece 402, and the latch portion 403.
An outer periphery portion of the first dish-shaped portion 401 is curved so as to extend outward at a slant toward the back face to form a first stabilizer 411.
The second dish-shaped portion 404 has a dimension that is smaller than the dimension of the first dish-shaped portion 401, and has a bottom portion which is formed integral with a bottom portion of the first dish-shaped portion 401. Similar to the outer periphery portion of the first dish-shaped portion 401, an outer periphery portion of the second dish-shaped portion 404 is curved so as to extend outward at a slant toward the back face to form a second stabilizer 441. This second stabilizer 441 is positioned at an inner side of the first stabilizer 411.
The latch portion 403 includes a support post 431 projecting from the central portion of the back face of the first dish-shaped portion 401 and a pair of latch pieces 432 extending from a distal end of the support post 431 toward the first dish-shaped portion 401. A step-like latch shoulder portion 421 is formed at a distal end of each latch piece 432.
Next, a method for securing the wire harness W to the vehicle body panel 406 using the above-described wire harness clip 400 is explained. Firstly, the wire harness securing piece 402 is placed along the wire harness W, and then the wire harness securing piece 402 and the wire harness W are wrapped and secured by a tape or the like. Then, the latch portion 403 is press-fitted to the hole 407 of the vehicle body panel 406, and the latch shoulder portion 421 is engaged with the edge of the hole 407. By doing so, the first stabilizer 411 and the second stabilizer 441 are contacted firmly with the outer periphery portion of the hole 407. As a result, the vehicle body panel 406 is elastically sandwiched between the pair of latch pieces 432 and the first stabilizer 411, thereby attaching the wire harness clip 400 to the vehicle body panel 406 and securing the wire harness W to the vehicle body panel 406.
In addition, in the wire harness securing structure which uses the above-described wire harness clip 400, the second stabilizer 441 is in close contact with the outer periphery portion of the hole 407, thereby maintaining good sealing performance for the hole 407 (refer to Patent Literature 2).
However, the above-described wire harness clip 400 has a problem as described below. That is, in the wire harness clip 400, the second dish-shaped portion 404 is made of a soft material which is different from the material of the first dish-shaped portion 401 to improve the sealing performance for the hole 407. Thus, a special facility is needed to manufacture the wire harness clip 400, causing an increase in cost.